Paved With Good Intentions

An interesting, and accurate (given history), pair of pictures describe how the welfare system starts and how it ends. Take a look for yourself, but the description says it all.

The welfare state starts with small programs targeted at a handful of genuinely needy people. But as politicians figure out the electoral benefits of expanding programs and people figure out the that they can let others work on their behalf, the ratio of producers to consumers begins to worsen.

There’s no doubt that the intentions are good at the start of some new program, but when you give this power to the government, it will misuse it. It’s always better, in the long run, to leave this to the people, fallible though they may be.